Beginning Sounds with Activities — Letter S

Listen for the first sound in science. On this sheet the child is handed the letter S and finds every one of the action pictures whose name begins with its sound — science, sewing and skating all open with S. Saying each word, catching its opening sound, then tying that sound to the letter S is the Kindergarten letter-sound link this practises, set among running, jumping and swimming.

Listening for a word's first sound and matching it to a letter is foundational phonics — the link a child needs before sounding words out. Hunting the action pictures for S rehearses it concretely: say each picture, hear the start, match the letter. With science, sewing and skating hiding among running, jumping and swimming, the child compares many opening sounds in one sitting, and the connection between the S sound and its letter grows a little more automatic each time.

Once a child can pick the S sound out of a word like science, that same careful listening works everywhere. When this sheet feels easy, move on to the B-sound pictures in activities, or the C-sound pictures in activities. Every beginning-sounds worksheet and the full action pictures set are free to print or play online for kindergarten, and each first sound a child names makes the next letter that little bit quicker to catch.